


The touch of a genuine lover

by LiStrange (orphan_account)



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU
Genre: Alternate Universe - After College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bathing/Washing, Crushes, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Feelings, Fluff, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, Major Character Injury, Past Joker/Harleen Quinzel, Tenderness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2020-06-23 11:14:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19700224
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/LiStrange
Summary: Harleen Frances Quinzel, tired of being abused and humiliated by the man who supposedly loved her madly, leans into the nurturing and loving touch of her best friend, who she harbors feelings for that she has finally come to accept, Pamela Lillian Isley.





	The touch of a genuine lover

Pamela’s touch was impressively gentle, way more considerate than the one she used whenever she tended to any of her plants, despite the fear and anger that dwelt within her and made her fingers tremble uncontrollably as she cleaned and treated Harleen’s gruesome lacerations as best as she could. Her ears rang as she applied hydrogen peroxide carefully on her best friend’s wounds, nausea crawling its way up her throat hastily when Harleen flinched and hissed due to the compound’s burning sensation.

“Shhh, it’s okay.” Pamela whispered as she reached for an organic ointment she had created for those type of situations. It would both numb the pain and speed up the process of cell regeneration, things that really came in handy when Harleen’s body was more gashes and bruises than flesh. “You’re doing great, Daffodil, just… Hold on a little bit longer.” She soothed as she applied the unguent over the injures as softly as possible.

In a matter of seconds, Harleen’s rigid body relaxed underneath Pamela, a relieved sigh tearing through her split lips —which the redhead had already cleaned and treated beforehand,— as the pain faded away temporarily. Pamela’s left hand lingered on Harleen’s left scapula whilst she tried to blink back the salty tears that were threatening to escape her eyes. She inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, trying to regain her composure once more.

“You should be able to take a bath shortly, so I’m going to run you one in the meantime,” Pamela informed her, noticing how a great deal of the ointment had already been absorbed by Harleen’s skin. The redhead sighed and moved away carefully from the small of her friend’s back until she was back on her feet and walking towards the bathroom, leaving Harleen face down on her bed yet observing her go sideways.

Once Pamela was in the safety of her bathroom, where Harleen’s inquisitive and melancholic gaze couldn’t and wouldn’t follow nor reach her, she allowed herself to gasp out a sob as she ran both of her hands through her hair, painted nails scratching her scalp in the process. _“This time her wounds were out of proportion… I could have lost her... No, I think it’s safe to say that I_ **_would_ ** _have definitely lost her had I not acted as fast as I have.”_ Pamela choked on her own breath at the realization, at the thought of losing Harleen forever, her heart shrinking painfully in her chest.

Pushing those thoughts and feelings aside, Pamela opened the hot water tap, letting the liquid flow and fill the tub slowly. The redhead sighed, placing one hand into the water to test its temperature before backing away slightly to open a small box that lay beside the tub which contained lots of environmentally-friendly —and quite expensive,— bath bombs, knowing how much Harleen loved those. She smiled when she found the one she had in mind, which smelled like narcissus and left a floral pattern on the water, and placed it in the bath once it was practically full and the tap was closed.

Pamela went back to the bedroom slowly so as to not alarm Harleen, and when she was in front of her, she knelt down and caressed her right shoulder. “Harls, sweetie, your bath’s ready.” She said, her voice a soft whisper, as she stared at the blonde with tender eyes.

Harleen groaned but began sitting down slowly but firmly on the bed either way. “Thanks, Red,” she said when they were face to face for the first time since she had arrived to Pamela’s small yet cozy apartment. “You’re the best.”

The other woman shook her head, a bitter smile decorating her face. “Please, don’t say that,” Pamela begged as she helped Harleen to get on her feet. The pain had surely disappeared by then, but the blonde was covered in bruises and lacerations that slowed her down and made her movements less precise, so Pamela’s helping hand was always welcomed.

After some minutes, they both reached the bathroom and Pamela helped Harleen to get into the tub after helping her out of her undergarments once the redhead had taken some towels and a change of clothes for her. Harleen sighed delightfully when she was sitting down on the tub, the hot water soaking her up and warming her sore body.

Her eyelids fluttered close immediately when Pamela started washing her hair slowly, so gently and in such a soothing way that made Harleen smile and feel impressively loved and taken care of. “I broke up with him.” The words slipped easily from her lips before her brain had even registered and processed them.

Pamela froze from head to toe, her mind both completely blank yet filled with echoing thoughts. “Harls,” she uttered, unable to say anything else. She had been waiting for such a painfully long time to hear those words, to hear that Harleen would not go back to that abusive scumbag, but at the moment of truth she found herself dreadfully speechless.

“Let’s talk when we’re back in your room, mmkay?” The blonde mumbled, tilting her head so that she could make eye contact with Pamela, who was staring at her with wide eyes and her mouth slightly opened.

Snapping back from her thoughts, Pamela cleared her throat and nodded, proceeding to wash Harleen’s hair in one swift motion without skipping a beat, unlike her racing heart.

* * *

“I feel renewed,” Harleen mumbled happily as she lay down on her left side upon Pamela’s bed, her back almost touching the wall. Her hair smelled like fresh roses whilst the rest of her had a lingering narcissus scent from the bath bomb, and she couldn’t be any more delighted. Wearing one of Pamela’s green T-shirts, which was comfortably big on her, only made things better, especially when she was only wearing that along with her own undergarment.

Pamela studied from afar, and Harleen knew that the redhead was about to ask the same question she always whispered. This time, however, Harleen wasn’t going to lie to her, not anymore. She didn’t want to run away from the truth nor certain Pamela Lillian Isley any longer.

“Harls… What happened to you?” And there it was, as uncertain and meek as always despite having a general idea of what had happened to her. The softness in those green eyes made Harleen’s heart melt, knowing that it was something that Pamela only used around her plants and _her_.

“I told Jack that I wanted to break up with him, that I was fed up with his constant mistreatments and harassment… He didn’t take it well,” she nervously laughed, gulping as she recalled the look of anger that her ex-boyfriend had had reigning over his face when she had told him her desire to break up.

Harleen knew that Pamela was enraged, but seeing her inhaling deeply, trying to calm herself for Harleen’s sake, made her smile a bit as Pamela approached her, knelt in front of her and caressed her face gently.

“I’m going to spare you the details since you can pretty much imagine what happened, since you’ve seen the injuries that I’ve got as a result.” Pamela didn’t complain, she didn’t mind being in the dark regarding the abuse for once. “He called me so many names though, some of them were new an’ all. Cum-dumpster, whore, good-for-nothing, ungrateful little bitch, just one of his many dolls…”

Pamela bit her lower lip down as her jaw clenched, her entire face growing tense whilst the look in her eyes had turned deadly and sharp. _“I’ll poison him and make him experience a long, tortuous demise.”_

“You,” Pamela began, her voice low and shaky, “Harleen Quinzel, soon to be the best psychiatrist Gotham’s ever seen, are an explendid person with a heartwarming, cheerful and bubbly personality. You’re intelligent, witty, kind, hilarious, amazing and the best friend I could have ever asked for… I am so glad you’ve finally left him. You deserve much more than that Neanderthal, much more than constant abuse for things you haven’t done. You deserve someone who loves you, who makes you happy and who treats you like you actually deserve.”

The tears that the botanist had been trying to fight away during the entire night were finally free, spilling from her eyes like unstoppable waterfalls, falling all the way down like the rapids of a shaken river. Harleen breathed out deeply and reached out to swipe them away with her thumbs.

“Pammy, please don’t cry.” The blonde whispered with a pout. “There’s something more that I want to tell you.”

Upon hearing those words, Pamela tried to clean the remaining tears away before looking up to Harleen’s mischievous smile. Before she could ask her about that “something more” that she had mentioned, Harleen cupped her right cheek and pulled her closer until they were kissing each other. Pamela’s initial surprise melted away almost immediately, soon kissing Harleen back.

Unfortunately for them, they had to separate quickly because of Harleen’s split lips, but they remained face to face, eyes locked and staring into each other’s souls.

“ _This_ is why I broke up with him. Because I realized that I love _you,_ not because I’m obsessed or emotionally attached to you in a bad way like I was with him, but because you love _me_ for who I truly am, you treat me with fondness no matter the hour, place or day, _you_ make me feel safe… _You_ make me feel at _home_. It took me a little bit of time to put it all together, to accept myself and these feelings I have for you, but I finally realized that what I felt for him was sickness and that I want to be with you.”

Pamela began crying again, happy tears this time, as she lay down beside Harleen, quickly pulled into an awkward yet warm embrace. Harleen nuzzled, inhaling her sweet, floral scent, before resuming her speech.

“I know that I’m a bit broken, and that my body is far from ideal right now because of the scars that decorate it, but I am my best self when I’m with you. For a while now there’s nothing else I’ve wanted more than to be your girlfriend so, umm… Can I have the honor of being the Daffodil to your Red?”

The botanist laughed in-between sobs, hiccups echoing through the room as a consequence. However, she nodded fervently, pulling herself closer to Harleen and unable to utter a single word.

It was funny how the tables turned, since the redhead had believed that she was going to comfort Harleen throughout the night only to see her crawling back to Jack once she was nurtured back to health, yet in the end she was being the comforted one, crying on her girlfriend’s chest desperately.

“I love you, Red.”

“I love you too, my beautiful Daffodil.”


End file.
